Shoe-rack.



w.-P. HAMMOND.

SHOE RACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. I914.

1,232,298. Patented July 3, 1917. v I

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siren-RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent. i I

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Application filed May 1, 1914. Serial No. 835,728.

To (1% whom, it may concern Be it known that I, VVILLIAM P. Harr- MOND, a citizen of the United States, residing. at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Racks, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspec1- fication, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. 1

This invention relates to racks of the type commonly used in shoe factories for receiving and conveying the shoes from one part of the factory to another.

llhe invention has among its objects to reduce the damage caused to the shoes by placing them in, or removing them from, the racks, andthe damage caused while the shoes are being t 'ansferred in the racks from one part of the factory to another; and to devise a rack that will be particularly substantial and durable and will be capable of a wider range of use than the racks now employed. The particular manner in which it is proposed to accomplish these ob ects, and the various features'of the invention, will be readily understood from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rack constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the rack; I

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing certain details of the shelf construction;

Fig. lisa perspective of a detail of construction; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a novel form of covering for the shelves.

The rack shown comprises a base. frame consisting of two sills 2 of angle iron connected by cross bars 3 and two end frames removably securedby means of bolts to op posite ends of the base frame. Each of these end frames consists of two corner standards t of angle iron connected at their upper ends by across tube 5 and near their lower endsby cross braces 6. Two end straps? (see Fig. 2) also are included in each end frame and are secured at their lower ends to the cross braces 6, their upper ends extending into slots formed in the lower side of the cross tube 5. Diagonal braces 8 connect each of the end frames to the base frame, as best shown in Fig. 1, and

a tie rod 9, extending longitudinally of the" tially like that described in my Patent No. 1,100,072, June 16, 1914. lVhen the bolts, by

whichthe end frames are secured to the base frame, are removed, and the tie rod 9 is removed, the end frames may be folded down on to the base frame as described in said application.

' These end frames constitute the supports for a series of single shelves arranged in staggered relationship, as shown in Fig. 2, the shelves being supported at their opposite ends by means of brackets 10 secured to the corner standards land by screws or bolts 11 extending through one or both of the end straps 7 into each end member of the shelf.

The shelves are of novel construction and are designed particularly with the purpose of eliminating tacks, nails, or screws, which are liable to work loose during the use of the rack, thus weakening the shelves; and of avoiding rack damage to shoes caused by striking them against fastenings that have worked into a protruding position. In the construction shown, each shelf is of rectangular form and comprises two side members 12 and two end members which may be fastened to the side members by nails or screws driven through the end members into the side members longitudinally thereof. The heads of these nails or screws are covered either by one flange of the standard 4 or by one of the end straps 7 so that there is no possibility of these fastenings working loose and causingthe trouble above mentioned/ No other screws or nails are used in the shelf. The side members are con nected by one or more bridge pieces 13, three such pieces being shown in the present construction although. thenumber obviously will vary with the requirements of each particular case. Each brid e piece, as best shown in Fig. 3, extends across the rack with its ends abutting against the inner faces of the sideniembers 12, the opposite ends of the bridge piece being provided with tongues set into suitable slots formed in the members. A tie r0d'15 extends transversely through the side members 12 and lies close beside the bridge piece 13, this member preferably being grooved, as indicated in Fig. 5, to receive the tie rod and the ends of the tie rod are threaded to receive nuts by which the side pieces 12 can be drawn firmly against the ends of the bridge piece 13.

r The bottom of the shelf consists of several rods or dowels 16 extending longitudinally of the rack and having their ends supported in the end pieces of the shelf and in the bridge pieces 13, each member 13 being bored just above the tie rod 15 to receive the dowels 16, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Each shelf also includes a number of transverse partitions 18 extending across the shelf parallel to the bridge piece 13 above the dowels 16 and dividing the shelf into a series of compartments. These partitions may be merely thin strips of wood, having their ends set into slots formed in the opposite side members 12. They need not be fastened to the side members since the tie rods 15 will prevent the side members from being sprung apart far enough to permit the removal of the partitions. Preferably the heads or nuts of the tie rods 15 are countersunk in the side members 12 so that any danger of striking the shoe against one of these parts is avoided.

The entire shelf, with the exception of the tie rod, preferably is made of wood and in order to reduce the fire risk attending the use of these racks, the shelves preferably are treated with some fireproofing compound. A convenient method of treating the shelves consists in immersing them in a hot solution of boracic acid for a length of time sufficient to allow the acid to penetrate into the wood. This treatment materially reduces the combustibility of the wood, and inasmuch as the frame of the rack is made of metal, the fire risk attending the use of a rack constructed in this manner is sub stantially less than that incident to the use of the ordinary wooden racks.

The rack is provided with casters 20 secured to the bottoms of the sills 2 by means of bolts 22. There is great liability, if the casters are secured directly to the sill members, of breaking the casters due to the shock produced by the caster striking some obstruction, the entire momentum of the rack loaded with shoes being transmitted to the caster through an unyielding connection. In order to avoid this diliiculty a member of yielding material, such for instance as leather or felt, is interposed between the 'sill members and each caster 20, as indicated at 22" in Figs. 2 and 4. This member very materially reduces the breakage of casters produced in the manner just described and, consequently, reduces the annoyance and eX- pense caused by such breakage.

Injmoving shoe racks about a factory they are very likely to strike each other and to interlock with each other where some part of one rack catches on a bolt head or other projection extending from the side of another rack. In order to avoid this difficulty the rack shown is provided at each of its base corners with a bumper 24 which is secured to the sill 2 by a bolt 26. This bumper is shaped to fit around the corner of the frame of the rack and has an edge face projecting laterally beyond the ends of any of the projections at the side of the rack. This face is curved convexly from end to end, as shown in Fig. 4, and the forward end of the bumper projects beyond the end of the rack, the edge face of this part of the bumper swinging inwardly toward the rack, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The opposite edge of the bumper may be curved forward to produce a point at the forward'end of the bumper and its upper face preferably is sloped downwardly toward this point so that, if the bumper of one rack rides up on the bumper of another, it will tend to slide 011' again and free the racks from each other. In the case of a collision between the rack and another rack, post or other obstruction, the bumper will usually strike the obstruction on its outer curved edge so that it will swing the rack away from the obstruction.

After a shoe rack has been in use a short time it usually becomes so dirty that it is unfit for use in the finishing room even if it were in other respects suited to such use. It has been customary to use a different set of racks in the finishing room, partly for the reason just mentioned and partly because, if the shoes were supported in a shelf rack after their bottoms had been finished,

the bottoms would be marred and the shoes would be likely to strike each other or the edges of the shelves and injure the finished edges of the shoes. The present invention, however, provides a removable cover of novel construction with the aid of which a rack used for the making room operations can also be used in the finishing room. This cover comprises adouble thickness of cloth 28, preferably fleece lined with the fleece side outward. This may be, and preferably is, merely a strip of cloth folded over. The strip is stitched transversely to form therein a series of pockets of substantially the dimensions of the compartments between the adjacent partitions 18 of the shelf. A stiffening member 30, which may consist of a piece of fiber board, is inserted in each of these pockets and is of such dimensions that, when the cover is placed in its operative position on the shelf, this stiffening member will hold the cover smoothly in the bottom of the compartment in the shelf. The pockets are formed in such relationship to each other that, when the stiffening members are in them and they are in their proper positions in the compartments of the shelf, the material of the cover between adjacent pockets will fold smoothly over the partitions 18. This cover, therefore, protects the bottoms and edges of the shoes from abrasion or soiling by contact with the rack while the construction of the shelves keeps the shoes out of contact with each other. Either side of the cover may be used and when it becomes soiled it may be laundried after first removing the stiffeners 30. If desirer the cover may be shaped to cover the inner faces of the side members 12 at the ends of each compartment in the shelf so that the heel and toe ends of the shoe will be prevented from striking these side members. Usually, however, this precaution is unnecessary.

I have claimed the novel bumper disclosed herein in my divisional application Serial No. 37,450, filed July 1, 1915, and it is therefore not claimed in this application.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a shoe rack, the combination with a supporting frame and one or more shelves supported in said frame, each shelf having a plurality of independent shoe receiving compartments, of a removable cloth cover for each shelf, said cover havii'ig a series of pockets formed therein, and stiffening members positioned, respectively, in the pockets of the cover, said members being shaped to fit in the compartments of said shelf and hold the cover in proper position thereon.

2. In a shoe rack, the combination with a frame and one or more shelves supported in said frame, each shelf having a series of transverse partitions forming a plurality of independent shoe receiving compartments in the shelf, of a removable cloth cover for each shelf, said cover consisting of a double thickness of cloth stitched transversely to form therein pockets of substantially the dimensions of the compartments in the shelf, and a stiffening member in each of said pockets, said pockets being constructed and spaced from each other in such a manner as to lie flat in the compartments of the shelf while enabling the material between adjacent pockets of the cover to fold over the partition between adjacent compartments in the shelf.

8. In a shoe rack, the combination with a frame and one or more shelves supported in said frame, each shelf having a series of transverse partitions forming a plurality of independent shoe receiving compartments in the shelf, of a removable cover of flexible material for each shelf having pockets corresponding to said compartments and a stiffening member for each of said compartments, said member being constructed to hold said cover in the bottom of the pocket while allowing the material of the cover between adjacent compartments to fold over the partitions separating the compartments.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM PARKER HAMMOND.

IVitnesses JOHN G. SUTHERLAND, CLARENCE H. YOUNG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,232,298, granted July 3,

1917, upon the application of William Parker Hammond, of Boston, Massachusetts, for an improvement in Shoe-Racks, errors appear in the rinted specification requiring correction as follows: Page 3, lines 6364, claim 3, for the word compartments read pockets; same page and claim, line 66, for the Word pocket read compartment; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 27th day of August, A. D., 1918.

[SEAL] F. W. H. CLAY,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl. 21l--14. 

